Homelander (Antony Starr) sits in the White House in season 5, episode 7 of 'The Boys'
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Homelander might be a demigod, but he can’t impress his father.
The Boys season five, episode seven, "The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother's Milk” sees our heroes debate the meaning of morality in a corrupt world, ending with a major death.
The brutality of Butcher (Karl Urban) comes under the spotlight again, the episode questioning if the ends really justify the means—killing Homelander might complete Butcher’s transformation into a monster.
Overall, the second-to-last episode of The Boys fifth, final season highlighted the tragedy of Homelander (Antony Starr)—try as he might, the world’s most powerful superhero is still “cringe.”
Warning—Spoilers Ahead
The previous episode saw Homelander achieve immortality (not invulnerability) via a vial of V-One, revealing how his newfound power could easily be taken away by Soldier Boy.
Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) appears to have no desire to strip his son of immortality, but he does seem to regret how Homelander is choosing to wield his new power.
Homelander seeks to strengthen his grip on the public and brainwash the masses into accepting him as their holy messiah.
His propaganda isn’t exactly subtle—an amusingly tacky video showing Jesus Christ passing his crown of thorns to Homelander invokes President Donald Trump’s infamous AI-generated post, featuring himself as a Christ-like figure.
To add to the second-hand embarrassment, a gaudy amusement park proves a vital part of Homelander’s plan—after all, fascists and tyrants tend to have bad taste.
For example, did you know that Hitler was a Disney adult? The murderous dictator even painted watercolor “fan art” of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Soldier Boy, an old-fashioned man’s man, sees right through his annoying, deeply insecure son, and he doesn’t want to stick around to see his twisted version of Disneyland come to fruition.
Homelander is nothing but an embarrassment to Soldier Boy, and he knows it. So Homelander responds the only way he can—with violence.
Once again, Homelander’s fate is to win a hollow victory, never achieving the respect and love he desperately desires.
Earlier in season five, Homelander beat his own son to the brink of death, and now, he responds to his father’s rejection by choking Soldier Boy and imprisoning him in the freezer—it’s the only way he can take control over the situation.
The scene is followed by another blow to Homelander’s ego, as Oh Father (Daveed Diggs) reveals that the public isn’t really buying his clumsy propaganda.
The lack of faith comes as a shock to Homelander, and he orders them all killed. It’s not a smart strategy, but a desperate move from a man who feels increasingly unwanted.
Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) come to the rescue of the survivors after debating the nature of heroism, in a conversation that resembles the theme of James Gunn’s Superman.
The cracks are widening in the cult of Homelander, and brute force isn’t solving the problem.
Homelander’s heightened power has failed to fill the emptiness inside him.
While Homelander is intended to parody Donald Trump, his story also echoes Elon Musk—the world’s richest man bought Twitter, renamed it to X, boosted the visibility of his own account, but money can’t buy the respect of the site’s users, who regularly mock Musk’s posts.
Homelander is undergoing the bitter realization that owning the casino doesn’t make you a winner.
He could surely rule the world if he was patient and strategic enough, but in the face of rejection, Homelander is starting to spiral.
This is underlined by his reaction to Frenchie (Tomer Capone).
After Homelander arrives to interrupt Sister Sage’s attempts to imbue Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) with radiation, giving her the ability to remove Homelander’s immortality, Homelander has the chance to kill all three.
Frenchie boldly faces the world’s most powerful superhero, taunting Homelander by reminding him that he has never experienced true love, or joy.
The comment proves a deep cut, and Homelander responds by gutting Frenchie, flying away to process his emotions, leaving Kimiko to cry over his corpse.
Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) is likely going to manage to infuse Kimiko with the ability to depower Homelander, but the move isn’t guaranteed to work.
With so much emphasis on heroism, self-sacrifice and ruthlessness, the finale seems to be racing towards a fateful standoff between Butcher and Homelander, with both men choosing who they really want to be.
No doubt, Homelander’s son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) is also going to face his father, likely marking Homelander’s final descent into nihilism and madness.
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